Editorial: Rocket a stellar boost for Mahia

Rocket Lab chief executive Peter Beck is a visionary, writes Mark Story

In little more than a month the regional buzz has morphed from Mission Concert to Mission Control.

And much like the concert, Rocket Lab's launch window in Mahia next week will involve a big stage, champagne flutes and a fair muster of groupies.

But despite the much-anticipated test run, how much we will see, from how far and how spectacular, is an unknown quantity.

The Cape Canaveral anticipation that what we're about to witness will be something akin to Florida's ground tremors an epic rumbling is, perhaps, aspirational.

Still, anticipation remains and the much vaunted countdown has become more of a northern Hawke's Bay space race.

There's something marvellous about the rustic coastal isthmus that dips southwest into Hawke Bay. Even more so when you consider the Maori word Mahia means "indistinct sound", which will be rendered ironic in the wake of something travelling many times the speed of sound.

Rocket Lab's founder Peter Beck this week said the company was preparing for any eventuality. As he put it, "sometimes you have to learn on the way up".

He's the reason the river town of Wairoa is latterly rocket town. And it's not the only place on the East Coast to benefit. If launch goes to plan and the clients keep queuing, the coast will continue to reap rewards.

Beck's 10-plus years effort has thus far been stellar. Hailing from humble Invercargill he's secured substantial public and private funding - all while wrestling rocket science.

Here's a chap who dreams big. His hard yards are due considerable credit.